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10-minute microvolunteering

Angie is a microvolunteerMicrovolunteering is a convenient and easy way to get involved as it can be done anytime, anywhere. You can even opt for actions, like petition signing, that take as little as a minute.
Microvolunteering could involve anything from retweeting a message to taking part in a flashmob or counting birds in your garden. The only requirements are that volunteers don’t need to go through an application or training process, the tasks take only minutes to complete, and it doesn’t require any ongoing commitment.
The idea is that many people doing small actions can make a big impact.
Angie Fuller is a Microvolunteer.

“Microvolunteering is perfectly suited for my hectic lifestyle. I can volunteer whenever and wherever it suits me. I’ve volunteered on every mode of transport imaginable – from trains to planes! I am passionate about volunteering and I love giving back to the community, but because of other demands such as university or work, sometimes it can be difficult to fully commit to a long term volunteering project.

“The flexibility of microvolunteering is therefore perfect for someone with a busy schedule, and despite the lack of commitment, I keep coming back for more.”

Find out more about microvoluteering.

There are a huge range of micro-actions including citizen science, letter writing, proof reading, photo-tagging, surveys, mini-beach cleans…

Ideas:

  • Skills for Change is a way of putting your professional skills to good use for community projects and grassroots non-profits worldwide.
  • The UN also runs a portal for online volunteering, supporting a wide range of causes. Some of their projects do require a little more time and commitment.
  • If you want to do something great when you go the beach check out the #2minutebeachclean campaign – you can even take just 2 minutes to pick up litter on your street, in your park… wherever you are and do a #2minutelitterpick.
  • And to explore citizen science microvolunteering opportunities further check out our specific guide to citizen science volunteering.
  • A Danish platform, Be My Eyes, connects volunteers from around the world to visually impaired people, who request help for things such as checking the expiry date on labels.

And there are many more, such as Cause Corps, Crowdcrafting, Elbi.

(Source: Angie Fuller via BBC)